For Some, The Call To Serve In Congress Isn't Strong Enough

None of them wants to go to Congress - despite pressure and promises of support from prominent Peninsula business leaders.

Each has his own reasons. DuVal cited family; Norment personal finances; and Hamilton his clout in the House of Delegates. But all of their journeys into, out of and along the edges of the contest for the Republican nomination in the 1st Congressional District illustrate a truth about federal office that is often overlooked: To many, it's downright undesirable.

"What is so shocking is that there are not five or six people waiting in the wings, wanting to go to Congress," said Del. Alan A. Diamonstein, D-Newport News. "We've been so fortunate that there have always been people who we know in the community, who have contributed to the community, who have wanted to serve. And all of a sudden that's disappeared. There are more people in and out. There's no obvious choice, where people are saying, 'This person should be our congressman.' "

It's not that there aren't any candidates. At least five are actively seeking the Republican nomination in the June 13 primary. Democrats, who will choose a candidate at a convention in May, also will choose from multiple contenders.

"It is a full field," said Norment, the state senator from James City County. "I'm not sure they have that many contenders for the Kentucky Derby."

Yet Norment and several others - leaders with name recognition and public track records and fund- raising abilities - ultimately resisted the urge to run despite their own confidence that they had the ability to move ahead of the pack.

DuVal, the secretary of commerce and trade and former Newport News mayor, ended his campaign not a month into it but after garnering several key endorsements and promises of money. Mills, a former York County supervisor and late contender in the 1st District race, exited late last month as swiftly as he'd entered with a terse statement about family and business.

The others never got that far, prodded though they were by such local leaders as Newport News attorney Herbert V. Kelly Sr. to bring their experience and leadership to what some view as a crucial job protecting the Peninsula's shipbuilding and military interests in Washington.

Some who declined the opportunity cited money, others the politics of the job. All talked about family, and all mentioned the quality of life inside the Beltway. And while they pledged utmost respect for those who do serve the public, many of them ultimately concluded they simply didn't have it in them to do the same.

"It is a very difficult life," said Paul S. Trible, the former U.S. senator and 1st District congressman who now heads Christopher Newport University. Trible chose not to seek a second Senate term in 1988, preferring "a chance to watch my kids grow up, to be a part of their lives," he said. "I didn't miss a soccer game or a lacrosse game. I was there. And I made absolutely the right decision."

It was the time away from family that scared DuVal the most, he said. He did not look forward to living in an apartment in Washington while his wife and three children carried on their lives 150 miles away. Even weekends would have been full of travel and constituent work.

"You're in Washington four days a week," said Dan Scandling, chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Herbert H. Bateman, the Newport News Republican whose impending retirement has prompted the 1st District scramble. "Hours are at least eight to eight, if not longer, and when you're back home in your district, it's not at home with the family. It's out doing the rubber chicken circuit. Town meetings, parades, festivals. On some days, two events in Newport News and a dinner event in Stafford, back home to Newport News, only to leave the next day for Washington. It is a terrible, terrible life."

Norment's children are no longer school-aged, yet his decision was tough, too, he said - and based on a reality that might be hard for most Americans to swallow: the $140,000-a-year congressional salary was going to be a hardship for him and his family, he said.

"Running for Congress is a much more complicated decision than it appears on its face," he said. "The implication that I had not dealt with before is establishing your primary residence in Washington, and the complications, and this is just me personally, of untangling investments and financial commitments that you have, trying to figure out how you're going to maintain two homes on a congressman's salary."

Williams, the state senator from Newport News, said he is turned off by the partisanship in Washington. Congressmen are too vulnerable to their parties' demands, and, because of a two-year election cycle, too tempted to make decisions based on public opinion rather than what they believe to be right, he said.